NEW YORK - Major League Baseball set a spring training attendance record, breaking the 4 million mark this year and averaging nearly 8,400 fans a game.
The league said Tuesday attendance was up 11.7 percent from last season's total of 3,610,738, and the record average was a 3.8 percent increase from a year ago.
This time, the 481 dates drew 4,034,708 fans for an average of 8,388. That topped the previous record of 3,823,479 set in 2013, while the average attendance eclipsed the previous best of 8,078 in 2014.
The Chicago Cubs drew 222,415 fans to Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., the largest spring training attendance total for any team in history.
The Boston Red Sox sold out each of their 15 completed home games. They have sold out all 63 Grapefruit League games at JetBlue Park since its 2012 opening.